This invention relates to mallets for percussion musical instruments such as drums and more particularly to the construction of mallets for bass drums, timpani, tenor drums and the like and to a method for making such mallets.
In the construction of mallets for musical instruments it is important that the sound produced by the mallets is properly centered or focused. The sound produced by a drum is directional and emanates from the drum head in a cone-shaped sound pattern. Normally in playing a drum the drummer tries to project the sound from the drum toward the audience. It is desirable that the sound be well defined and properly focused and centered so that the audience is able to clearly hear the drum sounds. In the case where the drums are part of a large band it is important that the contribution of the drums to the music produced by the band is pleasing and well balanced. This is particularly true in the case of an entire drum line so that the contribution of each drum should be properly focused and directed toward the audience.
It is also important that the texture of the sound produced by a drum mallet is proper so that the sound is crisp rather than mushy. Lastly, it is important that the impact of sound produced by a drum mallet is proper so as to avoid undesired impact sounds as the mallet head contacts the drum head. Various impact sounds are desired for various applications, situations and musical styles. It is therefore desired to provide a mallet having a head which provides desired impact sound.
Prior art drum mallets generally comprise a shaft including handle and head ends and a mallet head secured to the shaft head end. Mallet heads for bass drum mallets have traditionally been constructed of hard felt shaped in the form of a cylinder. A problem with such mallet heads is that the projection of the sound to the audience is not satisfactory because the sound is not properly centered. Such prior art cylindrical mallet heads are designed to make point or line contact with the drum head surface with the line of contact being in the axial direction of the mallet head. In practice a drummer is generally unable to establish good line contact with the drum head as the angle of inclination of the mallet axis with respect to the plane of the drum head will vary. This is due to the varying lengths of mallets, the manner in which drummers hold their mallets, and the variations in positioning of drum heads with respect to the drummers hands. The mallet head will therefore generally only make point contact with the drum head, thereby losing effectiveness and causing unfocused sound. It is therefore desired to provide a mallet wherein the mallet head will make good line contact with a drum head despite variations in the orientation of the mallet axis with respect to the plane of the drum head, whereby properly focused sound will be produced.
Another problem with prior art mallets is that the mallet heads are formed of felt and tend to become softened or mushy after a certain amount of use. This causes the sound produced by the mallets to lack proper texture and to be muffled which is undesirable. The mallets must therefore be replaced periodically. Since such felt mallets are relatively expensive the need to replace them is especially undesirable.
Some prior art mallets have been constructed of wood or rubber, and have sometimes included a yarn or wool covering. A disadvantage of such mallets has been the cost of manufacturing the mallets, the lack of proper focus of sound produced by the mallets and the short life of the mallets. It is therefore desired to provide a mallet which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, is durable and produces well centered or focused sound.
Some prior art mallets have included replaceable heads. Such heads must be retained on the mallet shafts by means of special fasteners or retainers which has made the mallets more expensive to manufacture. Furthermore the use of such fasteners has the disadvantage that the mallet heads may work loose due to repeated impact of the mallet heads with the drum heads.
It is therefore desired to provide a mallet of simple construction, which is inexpensive to manufacture, which keeps its shape under repeated impact, and which produces properly centered or focused sound.